


They Call Me a Thief

by alistoney



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst, Basically, Competence, Con Artists, Corruption, Found Family, Heist, Leverage AU, M/M, Minor Character Death, Rivalry, a bit - Freeform, happens before the start of the fic, mild violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:27:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26177188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alistoney/pseuds/alistoney
Summary: The Lightwoods are relatively new to the criminal scene but are quickly making a name for themselves. What happens when they run into world renowned con-artist Magnus Bane and his team when on a job after which Alec realizes he and Magnus might be after the same thing.or a Shadowhunters Leverage AU
Relationships: Alec Lightwood & Isabelle Lightwood & Jace Wayland, Alec Lightwood & Maia Roberts, Isabelle Lightwood & Simon Lewis, Magnus Bane & Raphael Santiago, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Simon Lewis & Maia Roberts
Comments: 40
Kudos: 168
Collections: Malec Discord Mini Bang 2020





	They Call Me a Thief

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was created for the Malec Discord Mini Bang 2020 hosted by the [Malec Discord Server](https://discord.gg/5nBgEp8). You should go check out all the works in the collection!! 
> 
> I started watching Leverage this summer and thus this fic was born. It's heavily inspired by the double blind job episode for anyone who has watched the show!
> 
> A huge thank you to [Em](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatnerdemilyj) for being the loveliest beta in the world and yelling with me over this idea as well as fixing all my terrible grammar lol.
> 
> And thank you to Killiarious for making [this AMAZING trailer](https://youtu.be/f8AruZI0C1M) for this fic!!! You should definitely go check it out because its SO GOOD!!

“Alec, you in?” 

Alec pulls the ID badge he’d stolen off of Blackwell out of his pocket. “Almost.” He takes a deep breath when he reaches the room at the end of the hall and uses the badge to let himself in. 

“I’m in. Where are the files?” 

Izzy’s voice crackles in and out of his ear and Alec’s brows furrow. “In the safe. It should be in the office somewhere.” 

Alec scans the room for anything that looks like a safe, crouching to look under Blackwell’s desk when there isn’t one in plain sight. He finds it sitting next to a file cabinet and shakes his head. “Blackwell, you made this too easy.”

The safe won’t be hard to unlock. Alec has only had about a year and a half of experience in the whole breaking into places and opening safes business but he’s a fast learner. It helps that this would be easy even for an amateur. 

“Um Alec,” Jace’s voice crackles in his ear, sounding out of breath, “we’ve got a bit of a problem.” 

“Yeah,” Izzy agrees, “someone is messing with the comm signal.”

“What? Who would be messing with our signal?” Alec mutters to himself. They’re always careful. Izzy is amazing at what she does. Nobody should be able to get past her. 

“ _ That _ would be us.” 

Alec freezes, slowly moving his head up to look over the desk. 

There are a man and a woman standing in the doorway, both grinning at Alec smugly enough that a bad feeling settles in his chest. They clearly don’t work at Idris. The woman is dressed in all black, her skin dark and eyes glinting. She’s in direct contrast to the man standing next to her who is dressed loudly in a half buttoned silk shirt and too many necklaces for Alec to count. 

The man winks at Alec when his gaze lingers a bit too long on his chest.

“Alec—“ Izzy starts in his ear worriedly, but she’s cut off by static and then the comms go quiet. 

The man’s smile grows wider as if he knows exactly what Alec heard. Alec lets out a long breath. “Fuck.”

Alec doesn’t glance back at the safe. He doesn’t know if these two know what he’s after or not. Best not to give himself away if they don’t. 

“Who are you?” He asks carefully, slowly standing back up from his crouch. 

The woman scoffs but the man just seems amused. He steps further into the room and picks up one of the picture frames on Blackwell’s desk, examining it without really looking. Alec follows his movements. The way he moves without a sound. With a deliberate grace that can only come from years of practice. 

The man places the picture frame back on the table and looks back at Alec. “Stole my line, Pretty Boy. I’d love to know who  _ you  _ are.”

Alec tries to fight down the flush that burns his cheeks and looks away from the man’s pointed look. His eyes fall on the woman who is still standing in the doorway looking almost bored. 

She rolls her eyes in Alec’s direction. “We don’t actually care who you are. Just step away from the safe and we’ll let you be on your way.” 

Alec’s stomach drops but he doesn’t let the reaction show on his face. Instead, he glances back at the man who is now leaning over Blackwell’s desk looking amused. 

“No,” Alec says. 

The man raises an eyebrow, drawing Alec’s gaze to the gold glitter that shines on his lids, but he doesn’t seem surprised. “No?”

Alec holds his gaze and doesn’t move from his spot. He isn’t leaving without those files. At least not without a fight.

He expects the man to be angry but instead, he laughs almost  _ delightedly _ . “I do love a challenge.”

Before Alec can react the man has grabbed the desk and upended it in Alec’s direction, knocking the wind out of him. 

Alec braces himself on the wall, trying to get his breath back. In that amount of time, the woman who had been in the doorway has calmly stepped by him and crouched by the safe, opening it without even needing to figure out the combination. 

When Alec looks at her with wide eyes she just grins at him over her shoulder, “Always do recon before going in for the kill.” 

Alec watches her take the files from the safe and feels his heart get stuck in his throat. He moves to get up to stop her from leaving with them but is immobilized by a hand on his chest. 

He’s pushed back against the wall and held there with an amount of strength he wouldn’t have expected from the man and sucks in a breath when he leans in closer than is strictly friendly. Alec can smell the hint of his cologne and feel his breath on the side of his face.

The man smiles, “Better luck next time.” He turns to look over his shoulder at the overturned desk and tuts. “Someone will probably be coming up here to investigate the noise. You might want to get out of here while you have the chance. Wouldn’t want to ruin that pretty face in jail would we?”

Alec resists the urge to punch the man. Something tells him that wouldn’t end well for him. 

The man seems to be able to tell what Alec is thinking because his smile grows wider and he pats Alec’s chest. “Good choice.” 

And then he steps away, moving gracefully over the mess on the ground and leaving the way he came. 

Alec stares at the empty doorway for a beat before his brain kicks back into gear. “Dammit!” He hisses, pushing off the wall and sprinting out the door. 

The hallway is empty even though it should’ve been impossible for the two people to disappear that fast. 

Alec stumbles when Jace rounds the corner and slams into his chest. He rights himself quickly but he’s breathing hard, hair askew and falling in his eyes. There’s a cut on his eyebrow that is still steadily bleeding and they’re starting to draw the attention of the workers. 

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Jace says urgently.

Alec swallows the  _ no shit _ that threatens to spill out of his mouth. 

“There’s another team here,” Jace goes on and Alec nods.

“I know.”

Jace’s eyes widen and Alec can see the moment he realizes Alec wasn’t able to do his job. That they don’t have the files. Alec starts to apologize.

“Where did they go?” Jace asks before he can.  _ Maybe  _ specifically so that he doesn’t.

Alec sighs, “I wish I knew. They were gone when I ran out here to follow them.” 

Jace purses his lips and clenches his jaw but he doesn’t blame Alec. He just nods. “We’ll find them. But first we need to get out of here.” 

They jog to the elevators but because apparently this job  _ can  _ get worse, Blackwell is leaving the elevator at that exact time. 

“Shit shit shit, turn around,” Jace says, spinning on his heel. But Blackwell has already seen them. 

Alec curses when Blackwell points at them and two security officers start running towards them.

“Well this isn’t going well,” Jace quips from behind him, crouching into a fighting stance. 

Alec whips around, grabbing Jace’s forearm and tugging him after him down the hallway to where the stairwell is. Now is not the time for fighting.

Alec pauses on the first landing when Jace pushes open the door into the hallway. He’s about to follow him when an alarm starts going off and Jace runs back out, grinning madly. 

“Pulled the fire alarm,” he announces gleefully, “That should cover us once we get outside.” 

Alec smirks against his will, despite the situation.

They don’t speak until they make it outside without being caught. Alec scans the street and pulls out his phone to call Izzy. They are going to need a getaway driver.

“I could’ve taken them, you know,” Jace pants next to him.

Alec glares at him, “Pick your battles.” 

When Jace calmed down enough to realize Alec had his phone out to call Izzy, he stilled. “We can’t just leave.”

Alec held in his frustration as the phone rang in his ear. “You’re the one who was saying we needed to get out.” 

He puts a finger up to silence Jace’s rebuttal when Izzy answers the phone. 

“Thank god you’re alright. Is Jace with you?” 

“Yeah. We need a quick getaway. We’re going to need to lie low for a while.”

Izzy doesn’t ask any other questions even though Alec can tell she wants to.

“Already on it.” 

Jace crosses his arms when Alec pockets his phone again, “I didn’t mean be done with the job!” He continues the conversation, much to Alec’s dismay.

Alec turns and levels Jace with a hard look. He wants as much as Jace does to find those files. But they aren’t going to be able to do that here or now. Not without risking getting caught. 

“The files are gone, Jace,” he says, “what do you want me to do? Blackwell has seen our faces. It’s not  _ safe. _ ”

But Jace isn’t ready to back down. Not even with the fire alarm blaring behind them, a reminder of the major fuck up this job was.

“We need those files. Max—“

Alec cuts him off with a sharp look, trying to ignore the way his chest caves in at the words. 

Jace stops talking but Alec sees the way he clenches his jaw as if he physically has to hold himself back from doing so. 

They don’t have the files because of Alec. This is his fault. Blackwell’s files were the only lead they had on what happened to Max. If they’re gone, then they’re starting back at square one. 

Alec squeezes his eyes shut for a moment, trying to stop his thoughts from spiraling any further. 

When he opens them, the man from earlier is only a few feet away in the crowd that has now gathered outside the building. 

He’s still sporting that deliberate grace but when their eyes meet, the man doesn’t smirk triumphantly like Alec expects. There’s something almost like regret in his eyes.

Alec’s phone rings in his hand, instinctively pulling his gaze away. Jace takes it and answers for him when he fumbles for a second. 

Alec quickly looks back into the crowd, but the man is gone. 

“Izzy‘s parked a couple blocks away,” Jace says, handing Alec back his phone, “Let’s go.”

Alec nods, taking one last look into the crowd for the man, before following Jace down the street.

***

Alec stares at the manila envelope. 

It’s addressed to him. His name is written across the front in elegant handwriting. 

But that isn’t what makes him hesitate. 

The packet hadn’t been in his mailbox downstairs, it had been slipped under the door. Whoever had sent it, had just been here. 

Alec takes a deep breath and opens it. 

From the size, he’d discerned that it held some sort of papers or files. He doesn’t expect to find a familiar folder in the envelope.

He pulls it out carefully, heart hammering. Sure enough the front of the folder reads  _ Acamprotin Clinical Trial: Patient Information _

There’s a note in the envelope as well which Alec pulls out quickly. 

_ I think you needed this more than we did, Pretty Boy.  _

_ -MB _

Alec stares at the note. There’s only one person who could possibly have sent it. And the envelope just arrived. The man might still be nearby. 

Alec grabs his keys and puts on his shoes in record time before sprinting out the door and down to the lobby of his building. 

The lobby is empty, so Alec hurried out into the street. He didn’t have to go far. The man was leaning against the building as if he had been waiting for Alec.

When their gazes locked the man’s lips slowly curled into a grin. “Took you long enough, Pretty Boy.” 

Alec glares, “Stop calling me that.” 

The man raises his eyebrow, “Would you prefer Alexander?” 

Alec glares harder, “How the fuck did you figure out my name?” 

His name had been on the envelope too. It wasn’t just a lucky guess on the man’s part. 

The man shrugs, “I didn’t understand at first why you were so distraught over those files.” He pushes off the wall and gestures for Alec to follow him as he walks down the street, “Once I took a look at the patient names, I started to understand. The Lightwoods are well known in upper class circles.”

Alec narrows his eyes, but the man keeps speaking as they turn down another street into an alley. 

“When I heard that the Lightwood children disappeared after their youngest brother’s death, it wasn’t hard to connect the dots.”

The mention of Max is like a physical blow, even now more than a year later. Alec presses his lips together to hide his reaction. 

“You don’t think his death was an accident. This is personal isn’t it, Alexander? That’s the only reason a man like you would leave behind the life you had. You want revenge.”

The pain in Alec’s chest quickly gives way to anger. Who was this man to tell Alec what he wants? 

Alec strides forwards, grabbing the lapel’s of the man’s jacket and pushing him against the wall. 

“You don’t know a fucking thing about me or what I want.” 

Surprisingly, the man doesn't try to get away. In fact, he relaxes in Alec’s hold and smiles at him like he couldn’t be happier to be pinned against the wall. “Oh, hit a nerve have I?” 

Alec tightens his grip on the man’s jacket, “What the hell are you playing at?”

Alec doesn’t get it. Why would this man send him the files when he’d obviously wanted them as well? Why did he let Alec find him afterward?

The man’s demeanor shifts slightly, the amusement in his eyes sharpening. He looks up at Alec through his eyelashes. “Let me start over,” he says, “will you let me go?”

Alec glares but reluctantly takes a step back. 

The man steps away from the wall as well, keeping his eyes on Alec as he does so.

“My name is Magnus Bane,” he says, “I’m a con artist and my team and I want to help you.”

Alec stares at him in shock. That isn’t what he had expected. The name Magnus Bane is familiar. Alec is sure he’s heard it before. And Magnus is looking at him with what looks like genuine hope. Alec almost believes he’s telling the truth.

He shakes his head. Magnus is a con artist. It’s his job to trick people into believing things. Alec isn’t going to fall for it.

“Leave us alone,” he tells Magnus and then turns around and walks back towards the street. 

***

Izzy and Jace are sitting in the kitchen when Alec gets back to his apartment. 

His heart sinks when he realizes both the files and the note from Magnus are on the island between them. This is not how he’d wanted to bring this up with them. 

They both look up when the door shuts behind Alec.

“Who’s MB?” Jace asks without preamble, face hard. 

Alec comes to lean against the island, taking Magnus’ note and crumpling it in his fist.

“Magnus Bane.”

Izzy raises an eyebrow at him, “As in the best con artist in New York?” 

Alec rolls his eyes, “As in an asshole.”

“ _ He’s _ the one who messed up the job with Blackwell,” Jace mutters. 

“But why give us the files then?” Izzy questions.

Alec hasn’t figured that part out himself yet. 

“He  _ claims _ he and his team want to help us.”

Izzy frowns, “He ruined our job. That doesn’t make any sense.” 

Alec nods in agreement but to his surprise, Jace actually looks thoughtful. Izzy notices too, if the look she exchanges with Alec is any indication. 

“He’s a criminal,” Alec emphasizes. “You just want to blindly trust him?”

Jace huffs at him in a way reminiscent to when they were kids. “No, of course not. I just think that if he  _ is  _ genuine about his offer, that we could use the help.”

“I already told him to fuck off, Jace.” 

Jace glares at Alec, “Without talking to us first?”

Alec glares right back, “I  _ thought  _ we all had enough common sense to know accepting help from a con man is a bad idea.”

Jace, predictably, doesn’t back down. He never does. 

“We barely made it out of the Blackwell job and we didn’t even get the files. You really expect us to be able to do this ourselves? I am not going to fail Max. I won’t let that happen.”

“Shut the fuck up, Jace.”

Alec hasn’t said Max’s name out loud since they lost him. Alec knows it’s a stupid and unhealthy coping mechanism. He doesn’t care. Usually, Izzy and Jace refrain from doing it in front of him. They both know how it hurts. 

“Not saying his name isn’t going to fucking fix anything Alec,” Jace yells. 

He looks guilty as soon as it’s out, but the damage has already been done. 

Alec picks up the files on the counter and pushes off the island. He ignores Izzy trying to catch his eye and leaves the room. 

***

“You know, it’s not a crime to sleep a few hours every now and then.”

Alec looks up and finds Izzy standing in the doorway of the office. She doesn’t quite smile at him, but the look on her face is comforting. She has a steaming mug in her hand which she places next to Alec when she walks in.

The patient files are scattered haphazardly across Alec’s desk. He’s usually more organized than this, but he hasn’t slept and they’re at a dead end here.

It’s been exactly three days since Magnus Bane gave them the files. Since then, Izzy has located several of the patients. 

They’re all dead. Izzy had found obituaries from several months before and after Max’s passing. Further research brought up nothing on Acamprotin or Max’s related symptoms as the cause of death but it can’t be a coincidence.

It’s what Alec had suspected. He’s not sure he’s happy that he was right. 

Izzy doesn’t say anything else, just pushes the mug closer to Alec. Alec dutifully picks it up and lets out a surprised breath when he realizes it’s chamomile tea instead of the coffee he’d expected. 

Izzy looks proud of herself and Alec rolls his eyes at her. 

“You need to sleep,” she says gently, coming to sit on the edge of the desk.

Alec knows it’s true, he can feel the weight of his exhaustion in every blink. 

“I need proof that this isn’t a coincidence.”

Izzy sighs and brings her feet up onto the desk so she can hug her knees. She rests her head on them and looks down at Alec.

“I want whoever did this to pay just as much as you do,” she says quietly, “but I don’t want to watch you run yourself into the ground for it.”

She looks younger than her twenty three years and Alec swallows against the tightness in his throat at the sight. 

Izzy had been the only one there when Max took his last breath. Alec and Jace had gotten into a fight with their parents and had stormed out of the hospital that day. Leaving is something Alec regrets every day. 

Alec takes another sip of the tea, closing his eyes as it warms him from the inside out. “Okay.”

When he opens his eyes, Izzy smiles at him softly. She hops off the desk and goes to leave, pausing in the doorway.

“We aren’t going to give up, Alec. Jace and I are going to go talk to some of the families tomorrow. Maybe we’ll find something. This isn’t a dead end.”

Alec nods. She’s right. She always is. 

***

The next day, Alec is sat in the same place, head bowed over the same scattering of files. They don’t offer up any new information, even with Alec’s newly rested brainpower. 

He is on his tenth read through when Jace and Izzy get back. 

Their voices carry down the hall and in through the office’s door. Alec half listens as they make their way to the office, frowning when they hesitate outside the room for a second. 

He’s already looking at the doorway when Izzy walks in with Jace behind her. They both have hard looks on their faces. Jace is glaring at his hands. 

“What happened?” Alec asks when neither of them speak. 

Jace looks at Alec warily. They haven’t talked about their fight but Jace hasn’t brought up Magnus again so Alec hasn’t brought up the fight.

“We got some information,” Jace says, “All of the families we went to talk to said the patient was covered by The Circle Insurance.” 

Alec sucks in a breath. The Circle had been covering Max’s treatments before the trial.

“And I received an email,” Izzy goes on, she’s got her laptop open and turns it so that Jace and Alec can see the screen. 

There are several files attached but the body of the message is short. It’s a request for a meeting. An address accompanied by a date and time. It’s signed by Magnus. His full name this time instead of the initials. 

“What are the attachments?” Alec asks.

Izzy looks up at him with wide eyes, clicking to open the attachments. 

Several emails come up between Blackwell and someone from The Circle Insurance. One of the emails has Alec’s blood running cold. 

It’s a list of people. With Max’s name at the very top. 

“What the fuck is Magnus trying to play at?” Alec hisses under his breath. 

Izzy pulls the laptop back towards herself and looks at Alec grimly. Like she knows he isn’t going to like what he has to say. 

“I don’t think he’s playing at anything, Alec.” 

Alec stares back at her in surprise. Alec and his siblings haven’t been at this for that long but they’ve always had one rule. They don’t trust anyone but each other. It’s an  _ unspoken _ rule, but a rule nonetheless. 

Izzy keeps speaking before Alec can voice his disapproval.

“I looked a little deeper into Magnus Bane. And yes, to an outsider, it looks like he’s just your regular con man, albeit one that’s ridiculously good at his job,” Izzy types something quickly on her laptop before spinning it back around, “but if you look harder, you find that a lot of people in New York go to see him for help.  _ And  _ that some of Magnus’ aliases I’ve been able to track down have been vaguely connected to scandals surrounding large corporations and CEOs.”

There’s dozens of names of what Izzy has labeled  _ clients  _ on the screen. People from all over the country. It could be a coincidence. But there are so many people, Alec can’t say that for sure.

Izzy meets his eyes over the laptop, “I think Magnus wants to help us because that’s what he  _ does _ .” 

***

Alec stands with his arms crossed in the lobby of the Gramercy Park Hotel. Why Magnus asked to meet them in such a lavish establishment where too many people could see them, he has no clue. He still doesn’t particularly trust the man, no matter what Izzy had found in her deep web search. 

“Lightwoods.”

Alec’s gaze snaps up at the now familiar smoothness of Magnus’ voice. He hadn’t heard him walk up to them and Alec prides himself on not being easy to sneak up on. He always has an eye on his surroundings. 

Something about Magnus, about this whole situation, has gotten Alec off his game. 

He doesn’t like it. 

Alec watches Magnus shake hands with his siblings, a charming smile that Alec somehow knows isn’t real, on his lips. 

He turns on his heel, his dark sequined jacket billowing out with the movement and catching the sun, “Alexander.”

The charming smile has become a smirk and Alec has to resist the urge to roll his eyes, “Bane.” 

“Had a change of heart?” Magnus asks. 

His voice is teasing but he meets Alec’s gaze and that same almost genuine look from in the alley flashes in his eyes for a second. Alec still doesn’t know what to make of it.

“Just get on with it,” Alec grumbles.

Magnus stares at Alec for a long moment before he nods and beckons for them to follow him. 

They get in the elevator, take it up to the seventeenth floor, and are led to a hotel suite. It’s the kind of overly lavish room Alec’s parents would book for business trips and family vacations back when their family could pretend that they weren’t broken. 

“Why are we here?” Jace asks. He’s rubbing absently at his shirt sleeve under which Alec knows he’s hiding a knife. 

Magnus turns around and shrugs theatrically at them.

“Who would look for a criminal in such a fine establishment?” He asks, “Surely we aren’t civilized enough for such a luxury.” 

Magnus grins at them and sends a wink in Alec’s direction. Izzy huffs a laugh and glances at him but Alec refuses to react even though he has to fight down the heat on his cheeks. 

Magnus notices Izzy’s reaction and turns to her. They exchange a silent look that has Magnus biting back a smile. For some odd reason, Alec feels disappointed. 

“So,” Jace starts, “you want to help us.” 

Magnus doesn’t turn to look at Jace when he replies, he looks back at  _ Alec _ .

“And  _ you _ want my help,” The look in his eyes isn't exactly open but there’s  _ something  _ there that Alec can’t name, “I honestly didn’t expect you to show after you pinned me to a wall the last time.” 

Izzy turns to look at him, eyebrows raised to her hairline.

“Shut up,” Alec mutters. That hadn’t been his finest moment, he’ll admit. 

Magnus hasn’t looked away from Alec so Alec notices the mischievous glint in his eye before Magnus speaks again, “To be fair, I  _ did _ enjoy it.”

Izzy lets out a delighted laugh and Alec tears his gaze away from Magnus to glare at her. Jace, who is standing next to her, is looking between Alec and Magnus with furrowed brows. 

Magnus just keeps looking at Alec with a smile that says he’s much too proud of himself. Alec grits his teeth but doesn’t acknowledge the comment. Magnus is doing this on purpose to rile Alec up. Alec isn’t going to get distracted. He stares Magnus down defiantly.

No one says anything for a few long moments. Alec continues to glare at Magnus.

“We changed our mind,” Izzy says, breaking the tension. 

It gets Alec’s mind back on track, which is probably why Izzy did it in the first place. Alec nods at her in thanks. 

“We found that you were involved in revealing quite a few corporate scandals,” Jace says.

“Did you?” Magnus murmurs. 

“Well,” Izzy cuts in, “not you  _ per se _ .” She smirks at Magnus. Alec almost laughs at how much fun she’s obviously having with this. “For example. The Institute scandal.  _ Magnus Bane _ wasn’t involved. But a certain Marlon Bryant was. You’ve made it your job to take down companies like The Circle.” 

It’s hard to notice but Magnus looks almost genuinely taken aback. He looks at Izzy for a moment before turning back to Alec.

Alec grins to himself and shrugs at him. “You did your research on us, so we decided to do the same.” 

His surprise only lasts about a second before Magnus expertly covers it up but Alec had seen it nonetheless. Magnus had underestimated Izzy’s skill. 

“Yes,” Magnus says, voice smooth, “as you’ve already assumed, it’s my team’s purpose to help people like you. People who’ve been screwed over when they didn’t deserve it. We can make sure the company that’s responsible for your brother’s death pays for what they did.” 

“We don’t want your sympathy,” Jace cuts in, arms crossed. Alec shares the sentiment but is surprised that Jace feels the way he does. After all, Jace is the one who had wanted to accept Magnus’ help in the first place.

“You don’t have it.” Magnus replies, “This is a job for us. Nothing more.”

Alec looks away from Magnus and makes eye contact with his siblings. He knows what they’re thinking without any of them needing to speak. 

They’d seen the proof that Magnus was good at this job. He and his siblings are skilled, but they don’t have experience taking down a company this big. 

Alec still doesn’t entirely believe Magnus is doing this because he just wants to help. But he doesn’t need to trust the man to get the job done.

Alec looks back up at Magnus, “Okay.”

Magnus grins, “Let's get started.”

***

“Welcome to our headquarters.” 

Alec follows Magnus into the penthouse suite and is startled to find three people already in the room. 

One of them is the woman who’d opened the safe in Blackwell’s office. She looks him up and down and then frowns as if she’s disappointed by what she finds. Alec almost makes an indignant sound. 

He doesn’t recognize the other two people but it seems Jace does.

“You,” Jace growls, glaring at the man in all black who is leaning on the wall in the corner of the room. He doesn’t acknowledge Jace, turning to look at Magnus instead. 

The two of them seem to have an unspoken conversation which ends in the unnamed man rolling his eyes at Magnus. 

Alec is surprised when the last man stands up excitedly from his chair and holds a hand out to Izzy.

“I’m Simon,” he says as Izzy takes his hand and shakes it, “Your comm system is incredible. I actually had to work to get them offline.”

Izzy is smiling when Alec glances over to gauge her reaction. She’d worked hard on those comms. 

“I just spent the last week making sure someone like you won’t be able to do that again,” Izzy replies, tone laced with the barest hint of a threat.

Alec expects Simon to cower under her gaze but he grins openly instead, “I think you and I are going to get along very well.” 

He pulls out the chair next to him and gestures for Izzy to take it. Izzy shrugs and takes the seat with a grin. 

Alec isn’t sure about getting so comfortable so quickly, but Izzy can handle herself. He isn’t going to make a scene. He and Jace linger behind the chairs at the long conferences table as Magnus and his companions take their seats. 

They all look at Alec and Jace expectantly but when Alec doesn’t move to take a seat, Magnus just shrugs. 

“We’ll start with introductions.” He gestures to the man in black who still hasn’t said a word other than glaring at Alec and his siblings, “This is Raphael, my right hand man and an expert in what you would call the physical aspects of this job.” 

Raphael smirks at Jace who just crosses his arms and looks away. Alec thinks back to the cut on Jace’s eyebrow that he’d had to bandage after their job gone wrong. It’s tough to get the drop on Jace. He’d been trained in combat even before they’d fallen into the business of thievery. Alec is secretly impressed.

“This is Maia.” Magnus goes on, nodding at the woman who is now sitting next to Izzy at the table, “She can crack any safe or security system in record time.”

Alec had seen her first hand. Although the safe she’d opened hadn’t been a difficult one, Alec somehow doesn’t doubt her skill.

“And Simon already introduced himself.”

“I’m basically the man in the chair,” Simon says, sending Alec and Jace an open grin that seems misplaced on the face of a veteran hacker. While Alec is pretty convinced of Raphael and Maia’s skill, Simon doesn’t seem too promising. 

Maia seems to notice his doubt because she sends him a dirty look.

“Simon’s basically a genius,” she says pointedly. 

Alec presses his lips together. He could say the same about Izzy, and Simon technically  _ was  _ able to get her comms offline. He doesn’t admit that out loud though. 

Izzy takes the liberty to dispel the tension in the room by introducing the three of them, smile in place and charm on. She’s always been good with people, shining bright enough that they can’t seem to look away. 

Jace is relatively good at it too when he wants to be, but it seems he isn’t in the mood to charm Magnus’ team. 

Once introductions are done, Magnus stands and starts pacing in front of the conference table. “We’ve identified that the list of names sent to Blackwell came from within The Circle’s system.” 

Simon types something on his keyboard and a photo of a several story building as well as the emails Magnus had sent them show up on the screen in front of them. 

“The list of names we found in the emails between The Circle and Blackwell is a list of clients who, at the time, The Circle was spending the most money on.” 

Alec feels something is his chest seize at the implication. He can feel Jace stiffen beside him and takes a deep breath to calm himself before placing a hand on Jace’s arm to soothe him as well. 

Izzy shoots Alec a quick glance before looking back at Magnus, “You mean—“

Magnus cuts her off, nodding.“The Circle wanted to get rid of these clients so they wouldn’t have to pay for them any longer.” 

He glances up at Alec after he’s spoken, looking surprisingly more pained than Alec would have expected. It’s not sympathy exactly, but something more bitter. 

“So they got them to try the Acamprotin trial and used it to fucking kill them,” Izzy finishes the thought.

Her voice is brittle and devastated but no one but Alec and Jace would be able to tell. Alec clenches his fist against the urge to reach out to her. 

“And fucking paid the families to keep quiet about it,” Alec grits out, remembering the executive speaking to his parents after Max’s death. Telling them no one else had had side effects. That the whole thing had been an accident. Paying them so they wouldn’t sue.

He tries not to think about his baby brother being part of some corporate plan to make money. A child. A twelve year old who’d already spent so much of his life in and out of the hospital. Max didn’t deserve this. 

Alec isn’t sure if Magnus pauses after the revelation because he expects the three of them to explode or if he’s just giving them time to process. He appreciates it all the same. 

After a long moment, Magnus starts speaking again. 

“The first thing we need to do is figure out exactly who orchestrated this. We need to know who sent those emails to Blackwell.”

He turns to Simon who smoothly takes over the explanation.

“The Circle’s server is well protected. The only way to access any of their online information is from an employee account. For that, we need to be inside the building.” 

Alec watches a slow smile make its way into Maia’s face as she leans back in her chair, “I've got it,” she says, “piece of cake.”

The idea of a stranger doing this job sits heavy in Alec’s chest. He knows that letting Magnus help them meant that they’d be working with his team, but he doesn’t need help breaking into a corporate building and getting into their server. He and his siblings can do that on their own just fine.

Alec steps forwards, “No, I’ll do it.” 

Maia cuts him a glare which he ignores while Magnus tilts his head consideringly. 

“Both of you do it,” he grins, “together.”

Maia rolls her eyes at Magnus, crossing her arms and then continuing to glare at Alec but she doesn’t argue. Instead she just gets up and leaves the room. 

Magnus isn’t phased. He just claps his hands together and smiles at them, “Well I think that’s all for today. We’ll reconvene once we’ve got a plan to get into The Circle’s server.” 

Simon and Raphael both get up to leave the room. Before Alec can do anything, Jace pushes off the wall and makes a beeline for the door. 

“Jace—“ Alec starts, stepping forwards to try and grab his arm. Jace sidesteps the action and speaks without turning around to look at Alec.

“I just need some air,” he grits out.

He doesn’t wait for Alec to reply, walking out of the room. The door to the headquarters slams, the sound echoing into the conference room.

Izzy stands from the table and sends Alec a glance, “I’ll go talk to him.” 

Alec nods. No matter how much he wants to go comfort Jace, he knows Izzy will be able to calm him down better than he would. The two of them work each other up too much for Alec to be comforting while  _ he _ also wants to punch a wall in anger.

It’s only once Izzy leaves that Alec realizes he’s alone with Magnus in the room. 

Magnus watches Alec intently from across the table. When he speaks his voice is quiet and sincere.

“I’m sorry about your brother.”

Alec presses his lips together and looks away from Magnus’ face. “Thought you said we didn’t have your sympathy.”

When Alec glances back at him, there’s something dark in his eyes that has Alec holding back a shiver.

“You’re right. It’s not sympathy.” Magnus shrugs, smiling sardonically, “I’d call it more of a desire for revenge.”

“You didn’t even know Max,” Alec says, crossing his arms.

Magnus’ smile fades into something else that is much harder for Alec to decipher. He keeps looking at Alec as he speaks. 

“You’re right, I didn't. But I do know it’s devastating losing a family member,” he says, “especially at the hands of greedy, power hungry bastards like the ones at The Circle. Whoever is responsible for this deserves what’s coming for them.”

There’s something in his tone that suggests something personal about the words. That this might not  _ just _ be about wanting to right a wrong. Alec wonders for the first time about what might have happened in Magnus’ life to lead to a life of crime. Did he lose someone just like Alec and his siblings did? Had he ever just been a normal man, living a normal life? Alec doubts he’ll ever know.

He does know that for some odd reason he trusts Magnus Bane. It’s not something he’d expected, but after seeing Magnus’ reaction to what The Circle had done, he does. 

Alec nods at Magnus, “Thank you.” 

***

“No,” Maia says, crossing her arms and staring Alec down. 

Alec glares at her. The two of them have been arguing over their plan to get into The Circle building for at least half an hour now.

Maia had taped up a floor plan of The Circle’s building onto the wall and Simon and Izzy labeled it with all the security measures in place.

Alec and Maia had both immediately tried to figure out how to procure an employee badge to get access to the upper floors of the building. Alec had quickly decided that Maia’s ideas were not his cup of tea when she’d suggested hiding in plain sight as a client and swiping a badge when they got a chance. 

Maia was equally against Alec’s idea of sneaking in inconspicuously. 

Magnus had offered some ideas at first but when it had become obvious that Maia and Alec were both refusing to work together, he ended up leaning against the wall and watching them silently.

Alec doesn’t know what he is thinking, and normally having someone as beautiful as Magnus watch him like that would be distracting or even annoying, but right now he is too invested in defending his idea to let it get to him.

“That’s too risky,” Alec says, “what if they catch on that we aren’t actually clients?” 

“They won’t. But they  _ could  _ catch a person who has no reason to actually be in the building.”

Alec rolls his eyes, “I won’t get caught.” 

Maia raises a single eyebrow at him, “Like you didn’t get caught in Blackwell’s office?”

Alec huffs and Magnus giggles from where he’s leaned against the wall.

Alec turns to glare at him.

Magnus raises his hands in defense, grinning at Alec, “Sorry. You’re cute when you get worked up.”

Alec’s face warms and he looks down to try and hide the flush on his cheeks.  _ Fucking Bane _ , he always catches Alec off guard.

Maia groans from next to Alec, “You’re seriously flirting with him  _ right now _ ?”

Magnus keeps grinning, eyes deliberately flicking up and down Alec’s body, “Can you blame me?”

Alec glares harder and turns around back towards the layout on the wall to hide his blush while Maia groans even louder at Magnus. 

Alec stares at the building layout again. There’s no real security until you get to the elevators and need an employee badge to get up to certain floors. It would be easy enough to nab some employee’s badge as they were leaving the building on a lunch break or something. They don’t need to pretend to be clients. 

“I’m not changing my mind about my plan,” Maia says, coming up beside him and looking at the board as well.

“Neither am I.”

Maia glances at him from the corner of her eye and purses her lips. “Fine. You and Isabelle do your way, Simon and I will do mine. We’ll see who gets out of there with the information first.”

Alec knows making this a competition is a bad idea. This is  _ important _ . They don’t have room for failure. But there’s a part of him that wants to show Magnus and his team that they aren’t amateurs. Maybe Magnus had gotten the drop on them with Blackwell, but Alec and his siblings are  _ good _ . Alec  _ knows  _ they’re good at what they do. It’s just about the  _ only _ thing he knows he’s good at. 

“Deal,” Alec says, reaching out and taking the hand Maia puts out to shake.

***

“You’re still here.”

Alec looks up from the map of the Circle building and finds Magnus leaning in the doorway. He’s dressed down more than usual. He’s still in bright colors, rings glinting on his fingers, but his hair is falling over his forehead rather than spiked up and his makeup is much more subtle.

Alec looks at the clock and winces when he realizes it’s nearing three in the morning. They’ve got the Circle job in the morning and Alec had lost himself in memorizing every floor of the building. He’d sent Izzy home hours ago when she kept falling asleep on his shoulder. 

He looks back at Magnus and bites his lip, “Uh yeah—sorry,” he says, making to get up.

Magnus holds up a hand to stop him, “No need to apologize. I’m a night owl myself.”

Alec watches him push off the doorway gracefully. It’s only then that Alec notices he’s holding a glass of what looks like whiskey.

Magnus follows his gaze and smiles when he sees Alec is looking at the glass, “Drink?”

Alec, to his own surprise, shrugs, “Sure.”

Magnus hums, placing his glass on the table before disappearing into the other room and returning with another glass and the half full bottle of whiskey. 

He keeps his eyes on Alec as he opens the bottle and pours a glass for him with a small flourish. 

Alec takes the glass, smiling slightly when Magnus grins brightly and raises his glass in a silent toast. Alec raises his in response and takes a sip, looking at the way that Magnus seems to watch him through his eyelashes as he does so. 

“So you’re the worrier of your team,” he says, smile just slightly mischievous. 

Alec rolls his eyes, “I like having a plan. Plans keep people safe.”

Alec expects Magnus to laugh but instead he watches Alec intently, “You feel responsible for them.”

It’s not phrased as a question but Alec nods anyway, “I’m their older brother, it’s my job to protect them.”

Alec doesn’t know why he’s saying this at all. He’s not even drunk yet. He’s only taken a sip. There’s something about Magnus—Alec should be worried about what he might confess to an almost stranger. 

“I understand,” Magnus replies, taking another sip of his drink, eyelashes sweeping distractingly against his cheekbones, “It’s my job to keep my team safe. We might not be blood but they’re my family. I’d protect them just like you’d protect your siblings.”

Alec recognizes the conviction in his voice. The truth in his eyes. It’s all Alec needs to know Magnus would protect his team with his life. 

Alec takes a sip of his own drink and tries not to grimace against the taste. Despite having Izzy and Jace as his siblings, Alec has never been one for drinking. 

Magnus notices his reaction and Alec watches him press his lips together to hide his amusement. Alec rolls his eyes and Magnus decides that means he doesn’t have to hide his expression now that he’s been caught.

Magnus’ laugh brightens something in the room. Like the fog of their current situation has cleared and Alec is just left with Magnus Bane and the moonlight casting half his smile in shadows. 

Alec smiles, following Magnus when he turns to go sit on the couch tucked in the corner of the room. They sit on opposite ends but Magnus’ body faces Alec’s, small smile in place.

“Can I ask you a question?” Alec asks, fiddling with his glass.

Magnus leans forwards, towards Alec slightly, “Maybe I’ll give you an answer.”

His eyes shine with mirth and Alec rolls his eyes again, “Why do you want to help us so bad?” Magnus opens his mouth to respond but Alec puts a hand up to stop him, “And don’t spout that bullshit about this just being what you do. You wouldn’t have tried so hard to get us here if there wasn’t another reason. Something personal.”

Magnus’ eyes drop from where he’d been holding Alec’s gaze. There’s a pause in which Magnus’ deliberate grace seems to falter. It lasts barely a second but it’s there.

“You’re more perceptive than you look,” Magnus murmurs. Alec isn’t even sure he actually means to speak aloud. 

When Magnus looks at him again, there’s a wide smile back on his face, “You’ve got to get through at least one job successfully with the team to unlock any part of the tragic backstory, didn’t you know?

He’s deflecting but Alec lets it go. They’re practically strangers. He doesn’t know why he’d thought he might get a straight answer. 

An hour and multiple drinks later, Alec is reclining into the couch cushions with heavy lids and Magnus is pressed into the arm of the couch sleepily. 

Alec feels warm and close to sleep as he watches Magnus lazily blink back at him. He can’t help but smile. 

“Another?” Magnus asks, gesturing to the empty glass dangling loosely in Alec’s hand.

Alec looks back at him and raises an eyebrow, “Are you trying to get me so drunk that I’ll tell you my secrets?”

He watches a slow smile brighten Magnus’ face, “Caught me.”

Alec chuckles under his breath and shakes his head slightly, “For some reason I don’t believe you’d do that.”

“But I’m a dastardly criminal.”

Alec considers this as much as he can in his intoxicated state. “That’s what I  _ thought _ .”

Magnus’ gaze softens. He seems surprised even if it looks like he’s trying to hide it. “You should rest. Big day tomorrow.” 

Alec nods sleepily, alcohol warming him from the inside out. He’s too tired to try and really analyze Magnus’ reaction, he’s already relaxing into the couch cushions, sleep calling to him. 

***

Alec straightens his tie and watches Maia finish smoothing out her skirt in the other seat of the car.

She’s dressed every bit the rich businesswoman. A perfect client for The Circle. 

She meets his eye across the car as Simon hands her a comm, “You’re going down, Lightwood.”

Alec readies his own comm, taking the USB Izzy hands him and stuffing it in his pocket, “We’ll see about that.” 

They stand outside the doors for a moment, looking up at the insane height of the building. Alec has to take a deep breath. He tries not to think about the fact that the person responsible for Max’s death is inside this building just getting to live their life. He wonders if they feel at all guilty. 

Maia moves towards the door and Alec shakes himself out of his thoughts. He can’t be distracted if he wants to beat her. 

“Don’t get caught,” Alec calls after her and laughs when she flips him off over her shoulder.

Alec stays outside the building, waiting for his cue from Izzy. 

It’s almost ten minutes until her voice sounds in his ear. “Man about your height, grey suit, navy tie. Headed towards the door.” 

She’d hacked into the security camera near the elevators until an employee with high enough clearance left the building so Alec could get their badge. 

Alec readies himself, putting on his sunglasses and turning to make it look like he’s just walking up toward the building from the sidewalk. 

He spots the man Izzy had described stepping out of the building, “Got him,” he mutters so that Izzy knows. 

Alec expertly steps into the man’s space, making it seem like an accident when they bump into each other. He makes sure the file the man had been carrying falls to the floor. 

“I’m  _ so  _ sorry,” Alec exclaims, bending down to retrieve the file, swiping the man’s badge as he does so. He hands the file back and pats the man on the forearm, “Completely my fault.” 

He doesn’t smile until the man has walked away without noticing anything.

“Got it,” he says smugly and Izzy laughs in his ear. 

“Lightwoods for the win,” she says. 

Although she and Simon have become pretty fast friends, Alec knows Izzy is never one to back down from a challenge. She wants to win this just as much as Alec does.

Alec pushes the door open and steps into the building lobby, taking off his sunglasses as he does so. He sees Maia standing near the front desk, arms crossed looking like she’s waiting for someone. He grins, winking at her, basking in the annoyed look she sends him.

Alec makes his way to the elevator and steps inside, using the badge to let him press the button to the seventeenth floor where he knows the offices are located from memorizing the map. He then fastens the badge to his jacket.

When the elevator opens onto the floor, Alec steps out with all the confidence of someone who has worked in this building for years. He’d spent hours memorizing every hall, so it isn't hard for him to make his wandering look casual as he searches for the office of the man he’d stolen the badge from.

He finds the office just as the elevator dings again. Alec looks back around the corner and sees Maia step out. 

“Shit,” he mutters.

“What?” Izzy asks in his ear. 

“Maia just got up here.” 

Izzy hums in his ear, “Don’t worry, I’ll slow them down.” Alec can practically hear the mischief in her voice.

He grins, despite himself, as he pushes the office door open and turns on the computer. He connects the USB and it doesn’t take Izzy long to remotely crack the password. 

“So what did you do to them?” Alec asks, waiting as Izzy gets the information they need from the system. 

“Sent Simon a virus.” 

Alec laughs loudly in the privacy of the office in a way that only Izzy ever seems to be able to make him, “I love you and your brain,” he says between laughs.

“I know,” Izzy answers. 

Alec listens to the familiar sound of the keyboard clacking in his ear until Izzy speaks again. 

“Got it.”

Alec removes the USB and leaves the office. He curses under his breath when he sees Maia already waiting for the elevator. 

“Fucking hell, they still got that done faster than we did,” Alec mutters, speed walking down the hall to come stand by Maia.

“ _ Fuck  _ its so annoying how good they are.” Izzy groans.

Maia looks smug as Alec approaches, “We win.” 

Alec narrows his eyes, “You still have to get out of here without being caught.” 

The elevator dings and they both step inside. Alec only takes a moment to think about his next move. He glances at Maia and then lunges forwards, dragging his hand down to press every button he can reach. He then salutes and runs out of the elevator right as the doors close. 

It’s not a good plan at all, but it’s efficient enough. 

The commotion has people looking over at him from their offices and Alec quickly makes his way to the stairs before they realize that he in fact does  _ not  _ work here. 

He sprints down the stairs, vaulting over a few railings and skipping steps along the way just to make sure he beats Maia. 

When he gets down to the lobby, he calms his breathing and walks out casually. He takes off the badge and lets it fall somewhere outside of the doors as he steps outside.

“Jace?” 

“Already here.” 

Alec looks up as a car pulls up to the curb. Jace grins wildly at him from the driver’s seat. He always gets way too much of a thrill from being the getaway driver.

Jace tips an imaginary hat at Alec, eyes shining, “Get in loser, we’ve got a job to win.”

***

When the three of them get back to headquarters, Magnus looks surprised to see them be the first to return.

Alec smirks smugly at him before collapsing onto the same couch he and Magnus had been sitting at the night before. 

“You didn’t  _ only _ underestimate my perception,” Alec quips, basking in the sound of Magnus’ laugh in response. 

Jace and Izzy both send Alec questioning looks that he deliberately ignores. He hadn’t mentioned the drinks he and Magnus shared last night to them. He’s not sure that he wants to. 

It only takes a few minutes for Maia and Simon to return. 

Simon points an accusatory finger at Izzy as soon as he steps into the room, “I can’t believe you sent me a  _ virus _ !”

Izzy just shrugs, already engrossed in trying to sift through the information they’d gotten from The Circle’s system. 

Maia joins Alec on the couch without saying anything. Alec tries not to shift under her gaze but it’s hard when she’s looking at him like he’s some safe that she can just crack open purely through the strength of her will.

“Not bad, Lightwood,” she finally says, “the elevator stunt was childish, but I can’t say that it wasn’t effective.” 

Alec laughs, looking over at her. He’s surprised to see an actual smile on her face. 

Alec holds out a hand to her, “Truce?” 

Maia looks at it for a long second before she chuckles and takes his hand, giving it a hard shake. 

“Guys—“

The tone of Izzy’s voice has Alec looking up at her immediately. Simon is hovering over her shoulder pointing at something on the laptop screen and Izzy is typing furiously at the keyboard. 

“What is it?”

“I’ve got a name for our guy.”

The room quiets and Alec feels the happiness he’d just been feeling at their success completely vanish at the words. 

“Valentine Morgenstern,” Izzy says, voice shaking slightly. 

Simon seems to notice and squeezes her shoulder reassuringly and Alec is actually grateful someone else can provide her comfort at the moment because he feels just as shaky as she sounds. This is the name of the man who’d essentially killed their little brother.

“One problem,” Simon says, taking over for Izzy, “he doesn’t work at The Circle anymore. He’s CEO of The Clave Pharmaceuticals where Blackwell worked.”

Alec feels his stomach drop. Blackwell, who knows that someone wanted that list of patients. They won’t have that much of the element of surprise with The Clave.

Alec looks over to Magnus and can almost see the gears turning in his head already. 

“What do we do?” Maia asks. 

Magnus spins on his heel dramatically and nods at their little group huddled around Izzy’s laptop. 

“We plan.”

***

“Valentine Morgenstern.”

Alec grits his teeth when a photo of the man appears on the screen in the conference room. He’s smiling in the photo, dressed in an expensive suit and holding a glass of champagne. He didn’t face any consequences for killing so many people. Alec has to resist the urge to break something. 

Max didn’t deserve to die because of him.

It’s getting late. Magnus had suggested they do the briefing on Morgenstern the next day but Alec and his siblings hadn’t wanted to wait. 

“Morgenstern used to be a high ranking official at The Circle. But, around the same time The Clave’s Acamprotin trial was going on, he bought the pharmaceutical company and is now its CEO despite having little to no experience in the pharmaceutical industry.” Magnus explains.

“He saw some sort of opportunity with the Clave,” Jace murmurs from beside Alec.

Magnus nods morosely, “We need to figure out  _ what _ . And we need more proof that he suggested that list of clients for the trial, knowing it would kill them.”

“The email with his name attached to it was so buried in the system. It’s obvious he went through great lengths to erase all traces of it,” Izzy says, eyes hard. 

“Then we look outside of the system. It’s possible there’s physical evidence. Nothing can truly disappear, all you can do is hide it well enough no one can find it,” Magnus replies.

Magnus has been stuck in his head for the past few hours between the job and the briefing, most likely trying to figure out how the fuck they were going to take Morgenstern down with little to no believable evidence. But he still takes the time to send Alec silent questioning glances every so often. He’s checking on him, Alec had realized after the first time. 

He meets Alec’s eyes now, a silent ‘are you okay?’. 

Alec sends him back as much of a smile as he can muster. He’s not used to being checked up on. That’s usually  _ his  _ job. 

Magnus nods and sends him back a smile of his own that somehow eases the tightness in his chest.

“We should all get some rest,” Magnus says to the whole group, “tomorrow we go undercover.” 

***

Alec catches the ID Simon throws at him when he and his siblings walk into headquarters the next day. 

He turns it over to find a photo of himself with a fake name. Izzy leans over to look and chuckles to herself.

“Noah Smith. What a boring name.” 

Maia, who is looking down at her own ID that Simon had handed her, shrugs, “We’re  _ supposed  _ to be boring.” 

Simon nods, “That you are.” He points at Alec, “You’re our classic rich trust fund baby. Think prom king in high school. Probably was in a frat in college.  _ Definitely _ majored in business.”

Maia scoffs, “Don’t think he’ll have much trouble with that.” 

Alec is ready to send her a scathing look but stops short when he realizes she’s  _ teasing _ him. Her eyebrows are raised in a challenge but she’s biting her lip to suppress a smile. Alec never thought  _ that  _ would happen.

“Izzy’s the only one playing anyone remotely interesting.”

Alec looks up embarrassingly fast at the sound of Magnus’ voice and sees him walking into the room with Raphael. 

He smiles and winks at Alec, as if he knows exactly how he affects him just by entering a room. Alec is almost annoyed by how  _ easy  _ it is for him. 

Magnus hands Izzy her ID, waiting for her to read the information on it. 

“Veronica Chambers, FDA agent.” 

The plan had been that Magnus was going to approach Valentine as the FDA agent. His team insisted he was the best actor. That plan had quickly been scratched when they’d realized Valentine’s schedule was so full with a new drug launch that they would need to take a real FDA agent’s appointment. Everyone agreed Izzy could probably pull off a Veronica better than Magnus could no matter how good of an actor he was. 

Alec is just glad it isn’t him, he’s almost certain he’d just try to punch Valentine as soon as he saw him. He’s honestly not sure Izzy won’t do it either.

When she takes the seat next to him at the table, Alec bumps their shoulders together.

“You sure about this?” He asks quietly. 

Izzy nods, determined, “I’m fine, Alec.” 

Alec isn’t so sure she’s telling the truth, but talking Izzy out of something she’s made her mind up about is almost impossible. 

“You’ll tell me if it becomes not fine, right?” 

Izzy must be able to hear the concern in his voice because she fully turns to him and squeezes his arm. 

“Promise,” she nods. 

When she leaves with Simon and Maia to go do something in the other room, Alec stays at the table picking at the skin of his palm absently. 

Today is the day. The beginning of the end of this long journey he and his siblings have been on for revenge. When they’d first started, they’d said they were only doing this for Max. That they’d go back to their lives as soon as it was done. 

Alec hadn’t expected it to take almost two years. He  _ also _ hadn’t expected to be so good at it or enjoy the rush of adrenaline as much as he does. 

He startles when Magnus slides into Izzy’s previously occupied seat. 

Alec looks up, following Magnus’ eyeline to his hands and quickly drops them to his lap. 

“Pre job jitters?” Magnus asks softly.

Alec doesn’t look at him. It would be so much easier if Magnus wasn’t kind. He contradicts everything Alec  _ wants  _ to think about him and Alec doesn’t know what to do with that. 

“Just can’t believe this is really happening,” Alec murmurs. 

Alec hasn’t talked about Max out loud since the day he died. He’s been in the room when Izzy and Jace do. He’d joined them in their toast to Max on his birthday. But  _ Alec  _ has refused to say his name. He’s scared of the word getting caught in his throat. Scared that he might start crying and never stop. 

Magnus must see that he doesn’t want to talk about it because he drops his chin into his hand and watches Alec carefully before smiling, “Since you’re going undercover, would you like a free acting lesson? I’ve been told I’m one of the best.” 

Alec rolls his eyes when Magnus winks at him. 

“You sure you aren’t just going to try and teach me how to flirt?” Alec asks.

Magnus’ smile turns delighted and he leans closer so their shoulders brush slightly. Alec zeroes in on the spot of contact between their bodies. 

“I think you’re doing just fine on your own.”’ 

Magnus looks at him through his eyelashes. It has to be deliberate, the way he tilts his head just enough that Alec has the fleeting urge to lean further into his space. 

Alec tries to fight a smile but it doesn’t quite work, “Are you always this bold with everyone?” He asks quietly. 

Magnus raises one eyebrow, “Only when they’re as intriguing as you are.”

Alec ignores his blush and turns away from Magnus, looking out into the hall where the rest of the team had disappeared to go get ready. 

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready?” 

Magnus looks at him consideringly before shrugging, “Maybe I want to spend some time with you.”

Alec furrows his brow. He doesn’t understand what exactly Magnus sees when he looks at him. Why someone like him is even remotely interested in him when Izzy and Jace are right there. 

“Why?”

Magnus lets out a short laugh, as if Alec has made some sort of joke, before he goes quiet, watching Alec intensely. He looks like he’s genuinely pondering the answer to Alec’s simple question. 

“Well that’s the million dollar question now isn’t it?” Magnus murmurs, eyes searching Alec’s, for  _ what,  _ Alec doesn’t know. 

And with that, Magnus stands from the table and leaves down the hall as well. 

Alec watches him disappear down the hallway, smiling unthinkingly at the way he deliberately sways his hips and smirks at Alec over his shoulder. 

Alec shakes his head at himself. Magnus Bane may just be the death of him. 

Once Magnus has disappeared into the hall, Alec realizes he feels much calmer than he had before Magnus had come sat by him. 

He wonders if that had been the point. 

***

Alec stands with Maia in front of The Clave building, dressed in the same suit from the last time they’d done this. Alec looks up, seeing if he can see how far the building goes, but can’t. Maia straightens her blazer and turns to him with a nod. 

It’s almost a mirror image of the last time they’d done this. Except  _ this time _ they’re working together. 

Alec takes a deep breath. He’s had to act his way into or out of situations multiple times since he’d started doing this, but it’s never been this elaborate. 

Maia chuckles slightly under her breath. Alec wonders if she can sense his nerves.

“You ready to be boring?” She asks him, smiling. 

Some of Alec’s tension eases. Maia is going to be with him the whole time and Magnus had emphasized that his whole team is well versed in going undercover. Maia might not particularly  _ like _ Alec but he knows that she isn’t going to let him ruin a job. 

Alec lets out a breath, clutching the briefcase in his hand and then nods. 

“Let’s do it.” 

It’s laughably easy for them to get to the pharmaceutical rep meeting once they get inside. The lady at the desk hardly looks at the IDs Simon has crafted for them and another man is pulling them towards the elevators before they can even say a word. 

“Well that was easy,” Maia mutters under her breath once they’re alone in the elevator. 

“Do you have such low expectations for my fake ID creating talents?” Simon asks through the comms, sounding extremely offended, “I’ll have you know I’ve been making people fakes since I was thirteen.”

Maia rolls her eyes at Alec and he huffs a laugh. The interaction reminds him of himself with his siblings. 

It reminds him of something Magnus had said a few days ago. About how he’d protect his team the same way Alec would protect his siblings. He wonders how long Maia and Simon have been on this team together. How long it took for Maia’s eye rolls at Simon to become fond instead of annoyed. He wonders if they think of each other as family. 

Simon keeps chattering on into the comms about how they can make their own fake IDs next time if they don’t appreciate his. 

Raphael starts bickering with Simon and Alec can barely understand what they’re saying with the way they keep speaking over each other. 

Maia laughs at him when she notices him trying to keep up, “You get used to it,” she shrugs, patting Alec on the shoulder. 

Alec probably won’t be around long enough to get used to it. Surprisingly, the thought makes his chest tighten.

The constant chatter does help him from being bored out of his mind once they’re sitting in the meeting. He mostly tunes out the people going over advertising strategies for Vantax **,** the new drug The Clave is launching over the weekend. 

Instead, he tunes in and out of the conversations happening in his ear. He listens to Magnus tease Simon and Jace bickering with Raphael. And then finally zones in on Izzy’s voice as she talks to the receptionist and is directed to Valentine’s personal assistant. She’s good at this, better than both Jace and Alec. If any of them can get through this without punching Valentine as soon as they see him, it’s her. She easily makes small talk with the woman until Alec hears a change in her tone. 

He can only really hear Izzy’s side of the conversation but she’s talking in her regular voice when she answers instead of the one she uses for show. 

“What do you mean?” 

Alec exchanges a discreet look with Maia.  _ Had the job already gone bad? _ Alec tenses, ready to burst out of the room and to his sister in less than a second if needed. 

They hear the woman mumble something and the shuffle of them exchanging something before Izzy speaks again. 

“Let me know if you find any proof.” 

Maia whips her head to look at Alec mouthing  _ what the hell?  _ Alec raises his hands, he hasn’t gotten a clue what Izzy’s doing. Telling the assistant to give them proof  _ is not  _ part of the plan they’d discussed.

“Izzy—“ Magnus starts into the comms and is quickly interrupted.

“I know what I’m doing, okay?” 

“You better,” Raphael mutters. 

There’s a long silence in which it seems almost everyone is waiting for Magnus to say something. 

“We’ve got bigger problems,” Magnus says, breaking the silence, “Jace, Raphael, how far are you?” 

The rest of the team takes his lead. They don’t have time to interrogate Izzy right now. They can just hope whatever she’s done hasn’t ruined their plan. Alec will have to talk to her about it once they all get out of the building with the information they need. 

“Another ten minutes at least,” Raphael answers.

Alec hears Magnus curse under his breath and almost smiles at the way his voice sounds around the words despite the situation.

“Mrs. Chambers is already in the building. Someone needs to take over for Jace until he gets there.” 

Alec’s eyes widen in horror when Magnus’ tone changes. 

“Alexander—“

“No."

Alec doesn’t realize he’s said the word aloud in a crowded meeting room until the speaker stops talking and looks at him with a raised eyebrow, “Excuse me?”

Alec scrambles to come up with an explanation, staring at the speaker who is standing in front of a billboard idea for Vantax. 

He glances over at Maia before he stands from the table, “I mean, billboards are great but I just think we should go for a more targeted approach to advertising.” 

The speaker tilts his head consideringly, looking rather impressed, “How so?” 

Alec’s phone suddenly rings, saving him from having to elaborate on the bullshit he just came up with. He quickly pulls it out of his pocket, “I really have to take this,” he says, answering the call and leaving the room before the speaker can stop him. 

“You’re welcome,” Magnus’ smooth voice sounds on the other line of the phone once he’s out of the room. 

“I could’ve talked my way out of there,” Alec argues.

Magnus laughs down the line, a beautiful sound. Alec doesn’t hide his smile since it can’t be seen.

“You can’t deny my way was faster,” Magnus replies. 

“I deny everything,” Alec shoots back, grinning wider when Magnus lets out another laugh. 

“Stubborn ass,” Magnus mutters. Alec’s not sure if he’s meant to hear it, but there’s a fond note in his voice. 

“That’s me,” Alec says and then hangs up the phone, stepping into the elevator to go back down to the lobby. 

He tries to go over what he’s going to do beforehand. He’s never been good at the distraction via seduction technique, not when Jace and Izzy are comfortable enough doing it that he’s never really had to put it into practice. 

Izzy starts speaking lowly in his ear as if she can sense his nerves. She probably can.

“Chin up. Smile. Be confident. You’ve got this.”

Alec follows her instructions and smooths down his jacket nervously.

“And unbutton your shirt a little.”

Alec freezes, “ _ What? _ ”

“Trust me, Alec. Unbutton it.”

Magnus laughs and Alec tries not to blush. He only unbuttons the top button but feels exposed anyway. 

“She’s by the front desk,” Simon tells him once he steps out of the elevators. 

Alec walks confidentially in that direction even though he’s feeling anything but confident on the inside. 

He finds her standing in line to check in and steps in beside her. He tries for a discrete once over that he knows probably looks extremely fake before he smiles wide, “You come here often?” 

Veronica looks at him unimpressed and Alec curses himself.  _ He could’ve said literally anything else _ . 

“I’m here for work,” Veronica says, deadpan. 

Alec cringes inwardly, doing his best to ignore the rest of the team trying to hide their laughter through the comms. 

“Right—um,” he scans the lobby, trying to think of anything to stall her, “well, we give all our guests a welcome tour before any work begins,” he says with fake enthusiasm, pulling out his badge and flashing it at her to prove his credibility. “Your guide should be with you soon.  _ Anytime now _ ,” he says purposefully and leads Veronica away from the line.

“Patience,” Raphael chides and Alec can practically  _ tell  _ he’s smirking. The way Jace laughs afterwards is basically proof. 

Thankfully it's only a few minutes of stilted small talk before Alec sees shock of Jace’s blond hair in the crowd of people near the door a moment later. 

_ Thank god. _

He taps Veronica on the shoulder and points at Jace, grabbing her badge while she’s preoccupied.

“Look, there he is.” Alec waves at Jace who comes over, grinning like an idiot at Alec. Alec hates him. He rolls his eyes and slips Jace the badge discreetly. 

On cue, Izzy walks by with the red headed assistant and gets the badge from Jace. They’re a well oiled machine by now and the exchange goes off without a hitch. Izzy smirks at Alec and holds up the badge happily once she has it in her possession. Alec can’t help but smile back. 

“Have a good tour,” Alec tells Jace and Veronica and leaves as soon as he can find an opening. 

As soon as he’s made it to the elevator, people start giggling in his ear. 

“Well that went well,” Magnus says teasingly.

Alec groans, punching the elevator button with more force than necessary, “Listen, I am  _ very  _ gay.” 

Simon starts laughing even harder and it seems like even Maia is trying to hold back laughter. 

“Good to know,” Magnus' voice cuts through the noise, low and full of intent. 

Alec bites his lip against a smile. 

“And don’t worry,  _ I _ know you know how to flirt, Alexander.” 

Alec huffs a laugh, “It only works when I find the person intriguing,” he teases, repeating Magnus’ words from earlier. 

Magnus laughs breathily, equal parts surprised and delighted. Something in Alec’s chest warms at the sound. 

“We can  _ all _ hear you,” Raphael says, sounding extremely annoyed. 

Alec is glad he’s alone in the elevator when he blushes. He’d forgotten about the comms for a moment. Forgotten about the  _ job _ . 

“Fuck off, Santiago,” Magnus throws back at Raphael and the rest of the team laughs in Alec’s ear. 

Alec clenches his fist, nails digging into his palm. He can’t slip like that again. No matter how much Magnus makes him blush or the team makes him smile with their teasing. He isn’t even going to see these people again once this whole thing is over. Attachment isn’t an option.

Alec forces himself to only pay attention to Izzy who has made it to Valentine’s office and is introducing herself. The job. Nothing else. 

Ruin Valentine Morgenstern and then Alec will never see Magnus Bane or his team again. That’s the plan. Alec always sticks to the plan. 

“Alec, don’t go back to the meeting,” Izzy says, right as the elevator doors open, “I’ve got him out of the office, go straight there.” 

“Okay, meet me there, Maia,” Alec whispers, before punching the button for the top floor where Valentine’s office is located. 

“I  _ would, _ except I’m now having to give a bullshit presentation about targeted advertisement because of you,” Maia answers her voice full of disdain.

Alec can’t stop himself from huffing a quiet laugh, “Is it bad that I’m not actually sorry?” 

Maia doesn’t reply but Alec imagines she’d glare at him if she could. Alec tries not to think about how he’s starting to enjoy Maia’s company.

***

Once in Valentine’s office, Alec goes straight for the file cabinets. If Izzy hadn’t been able to find anything in The Circle’s system, he assumes Valentine would have also erased all traces of the trial at The Clave as well.

It takes him a good amount of time to pick the locks on the file cabinet but once he does, it’s easy enough to find the most suspicious looking files. 

He quickly looks through thick piles of god knows what until his hand stills over a file simply labeled  _ Trial 1 _ . He has to take a moment, squeezing his eyes shut, before flipping it open. 

The first few pages look like random receipts and blank papers, probably used to make the file seem unimportant. Once Alec flips past them, he finds diagrams of a familiar chemical structure.  _ Acamprotin _ . 

This is it. This is proof.

Alec flips further and his breathing stutters at the next page. A list of clients from The Circle with names underlined in red. Alec’s hands tighten on the file in an attempt to keep them from shaking. He doesn’t look for Max’s name. He’s not sure if he’ll be able to look at his little brother’s name underlined on what is essentially a hit list. 

It’s harder to flip to the next page. 

A report on Acamprotin. It seems to be test results dated before the trial Max was a part of. It lists organ failure as a side effect of the drug. Alec grits his teeth together and resists the urge to throw the file against the wall. 

Valentine knew, he  _ knew _ they were killing these people. Angry tears prick against Alec’s eyes but he blinks them away. He isn’t going to cry. He can’t, not while on a job. Not while his siblings and a team of strangers would be able to hear him. 

The comms have gone quiet, as if the team can sense Alec is close to breaking. He clears his throat, taking a long shaky breath to calm himself, “I found it.”

Magnus’ voice is soft when he replies, “Get pictures of all of it. Even if it doesn’t look important.” 

Alec lays out the contents of the file on the desk and gets to work, ignoring the pit in his stomach. He can’t let his emotions get the better of him.

The door swings open a moment later and Maia walks in. She looks at the papers spread out over the desk. Alec hopes she can’t see the way his fingers are still shaking slightly. 

“You okay?” She asks simply. 

Alec swallows and nods. It’s a lie. One he’s sure she can see through, but she doesn’t say anything else. Alec is grateful.

Maia goes for the computer, plugging something into the side that gets her easily past the password. 

“I doubt there’s anything to find on here but might as well double check.” 

Alec continues to take the photos until Maia groans under her breath, “They’re obsessed with this new drug. Literally everything on here is about Vantax.” 

Alec looks up as she presses on one of the files and a photo of the structure fills the screen. It looks strangely  _ familiar _ . Alec tilts his head, trying to figure out why and then suddenly it clicks. 

His stomach drops, “Holy shit—”

“What?” Maia asks, sitting up straight and looking at him with wide eyes.

“That’s Acamprotin.”

She looks back at the screen, zooming in on the molecule, “Are you sure?”

Alec wishes he wasn’t. 

“We made it our job to learn everything about Acamprotin. I’m sure.”

Maia stares at him, looking truly at a loss for the first time since he’d met her. 

“ _ Shit _ .” 

“Maia, get everything off that computer that even looks like it’s related to Vantax. We  _ can’t _ let them launch that drug this weekend.” Magnus says, voice hard and authoritative. 

That spurs both Maia and Alec back into motion. They don’t know how much time they have. Who knows how long Izzy can keep Valentine occupied. 

Alec snaps picture after picture and sends them straight to Magnus as soon as he takes them. Uploading the files from the computer to the USB proves a long task and Maia ends up staring anxiously at the computer as it loads while Alec goes through the physical file. 

“He’s heading back to the office,” Izzy’s voice says in his ear, panicked, “I tried to stop him.” 

“Get what you can and get out,” Magnus says urgently. 

Alec continues to take photos even as Maia moves to remove the USB from the computer.

“No,” he says.

“What do you mean  _ no _ ?” Maia asks, glaring at him. 

“We need it.”

“Alexander, Magnus starts, but Alec doesn’t budge. They’ve come so far. So  _ close _ . They can’t leave without this. He keeps taking photos. Thankfully, Maia doesn’t take out the USB. 

“ _ Alec,  _ get out,” Izzy hisses but Alec ignores her, focusing on his task.

He gets the last photo as soon as the computer finishes loading and Maia yanks the USB out of the port. 

Alec gathers the papers back into the file and quickly returns it to the cabinet. 

They barely get out in time, passing Valentine in the hallway as he walks to his office. Izzy is behind him and Alec doesn’t think he’s ever seen her look so angry. 

“You’re a fucking idiot,” Jace tells him through the comms as they make a beeline for the elevators. 

Alec doesn’t regret it. 

***

“New plan.” 

The team hasn’t even made it to the conference room. Instead, they’re sprawled across the couches in the break room trying to recover from the day while also coming to terms with the new information they’ve discovered. 

“No shit,” Maia says, huffing a small laugh when Magnus sends her a glare. 

It eases some of the tension in the room but Alec is only half paying attention. He’s still stuck on the idea that Valentine has the audacity to knowingly kill people a second time. 

Jace is sitting on the arm of the couch Alec is sitting on and has leaned himself into Alec’s shoulder. He isn’t sure if Jace has done it because he needs to ground himself or if he can tell Alec is stuck in his head. Either way, Alec leans into the touch and tries not to let his thoughts wander too far into the past. 

Usually Izzy would be at his other side, but she’s in the corner of the room furiously going through the Vantax documents Maia had uploaded to make sure Alec is right about it being the same as Acamprotin. 

She’d been in the middle of getting her Master of Chemistry when everything with Max had happened. Alec hadn’t wanted her to drop out but she insisted she wasn’t going to let Alec and Jace do this on their own. Alec will always be a little bit guilty over how he hadn’t fought her hard enough on that. 

“Alec is right,” Izzy says from the back of the room, jarring Alec out of his thoughts, “It’s Acamprotin. It’s been slightly modified to make the symptoms and organ failure arise after a longer amount of time, but it’s still going to kill people eventually.”

Magnus doesn’t seem surprised. Alec honestly isn’t either. He knows he  _ should  _ be. But Valentine obviously has no qualms playing with the lives of other human beings. 

What Alec does find in Magnus’ face, though it’s obvious he’s trying to hide it, is sadness. Alec knows that Magnus does jobs like this one all the time. He, more than anyone, understands the way people are willing to be cruel. Knows what people are capable of. And yet it still seems to hurt him when he sees it happen. 

Alec almost reaches out for him as he passes by the couch, but drops his hand at the last second. He watches as Magnus rubs his fingers together and shares a long look with Raphael who sits on the other end of the couch. It seems to ground him much in the same way Jace’s touch gets Alec out of his head. 

When Magnus turns back around to face the team, there’s a fire in his eyes that sends a shiver down Alec’s spine, “We’re not letting that drug launch happen this weekend.”

“How?” Maia asks, leaning forwards and resting her elbows on her knees. 

“We find where they’re keeping the old Acamprotin vials and steal them as proof that it’s the same drug as Vantax,” Magnus answers simply, as if breaking into a pharmaceutical company's drug vault is the easiest thing in the world. 

Alec doesn't like where this plan is going. He and his siblings have broken a few laws, sure. But breaking into a secure vault and outright stealing drugs from a large company? That’s a lot. 

“The Clave has storage spaces all over New York,” Simon argues, “we’ll never be able to figure out which one they’re storing Acamprotin in.” 

Izzy leans over the back of the couch, “Clary might be able to help.” 

Alec turns around to look at her suspiciously, “Clary?”

“Valentine’s assistant and daughter. She told me she suspects he’s up to something and has been trying to figure out what. She probably has more access than we do. She could help.” 

“No,” Alec says before anyone else can say anything. There’s no way they’re trusting another outsider. He’s not even sure if he agrees with this plan let alone trusting someone, their mark’s  _ daughter  _ at that, with it. 

“Alexander is right,” Magnus says, albeit much more gently than Alec had, “we don’t know that she isn’t lying. It’s safer to keep this within the team.” 

Izzy presses her lips together but doesn’t argue. 

“But then how are we going to find the vials?” Maia questions. 

The corner of Magnus’ mouth curls up and he shares a looks with Raphael. They seem to have a silent conversation in which Raphael huffs like he suddenly realizes Magnus’ plan. 

“Valentine is going to tell us where it is himself.” 

***

Alec sits at the conference table alone. The rest of the team had scattered around the headquarters after they’d gone over the plan.

Izzy and Jace had been hunched over her laptop last time Alec had checked. He’s pretty sure Simon and Maia went home at some point. He has no idea where Magnus and Raphael have disappeared to. 

He hasn’t bothered to turn on the light, letting the room slowly grow darker as the sun sets. 

Not that he notices the growing darkness. His mind is far away. On the empty hospital bed. Collecting the flowers and cards off the windowsill and not knowing what to do with any of them. Standing in that room and feeling utterly lost. 

Yelling at his parents when they took what was essentially hush money. When they didn’t believe him when he told them it wasn’t just a mistake. 

The day he decided to leave his life behind. The day Izzy and Jace wouldn’t let him do it alone. 

It wasn’t supposed to go this far. They don’t have to steal the vials. They have proof, they can go to the authorities. Do this the right way. 

Light pours into the room when the door opens. Alec looks up and finds Izzy and Jace in the doorway.

“What are you doing in the dark?” Jace asks softly. 

Alec shrugs, pulling absentmindedly at the webbing between his fingers, “Thinking.” 

Izzy sends him a sad smile, moving to sit beside him and placing her hand over his, “We’re going to stop that drug launch,” she says, voice determined, “I promise.” 

Alec lets out a shaky breath, thinking about what they plan to do in order to achieve that. 

“I don’t think we should do Magnus’ plan.”

Both Jace and Izzy look at him in disbelief, “ _ What? _ ”

“This is different from stealing a few documents, this is breaking into a full on vault.” Alec emphasizes, “We’re in over our heads.”

“We’re not alone,” Izzy argues, “Magnus and his team are the best of the best.”

Alec is shaking his head before she has finished. He  _ knows  _ that. That isn’t the problem. The problem is Alec and his siblings aren’t like them. This isn’t their life. 

“We have proof. We can go to the authorities, stop the launch the right way.”

Izzy scoffs, “That’s not the  _ right  _ way, it's the legal way. You’re not an idiot, Alec, you  _ know  _ they won’t take our side without hard evidence. Which we  _ don’t  _ have.”

Jace has been quiet but when Alec turns to look at him he seems to come to a revelation, eyes growing stormy, “You don’t trust them.” 

“They’re  _ criminals _ .”

Jace’s jaw clenches and he turns around, leaving the room without saying anything. The bang of the door behind him echoes throughout the conference room. 

Izzy shakes her head at Alec. “That’s your excuse? They’re criminals?” Alec isn’t sure he’s ever seen her look so disappointed, “Look around Alec. So are  _ we _ .”

And then she leaves the room, same as Jace. 

Alec stares at the empty doorway for a long moment, debating going after them. Alec fights with Jace often enough that he could probably deal with him. But he and Izzy usually don’t fight. When they do, they’re both stubborn enough that it takes a while to cool down. 

Alec squeezes his eyes shut against frustrated tears. They don’t have time right now. The plan is to get the vials tomorrow. He stands from the chair and goes after them. 

Instead of finding Izzy and Jace, he sees Magnus standing outside the conference room. His heart drops. 

“Did you hear that?”

Magnus sighs, “Would you feel better if I said no?” 

“No,” Alec admits quietly.

“Then does it matter?”

Alec can’t tell what Magnus is thinking. If he’s angry. Hurt. Indifferent.

“I’m sorry,” he says anyway. 

Magnus doesn’t accept the apology but he smiles sadly, “Breaking the law to do the right thing doesn’t change who you are.”

He doesn’t know if Magnus is talking about himself or Alec. 

When Alec doesn’t reply, Magnus keeps speaking, “I was born into this life. I can’t say I know exactly what you’re feeling, but there was a time in my life when I tried to get away from all this. From the stealing and breaking laws. I wanted to be a good person.” 

Alec has heard the rumors about Magnus Bane. He’s accumulated enough wealth to be able to live a noncriminal life by now. Yet he’s still here. 

“Wanted,” Alec states, “past tense.”

Magnus heaves a sigh and leans into the wall in the hallway, arms crossed. 

“I’ve learned that not everything is black and white.”

Alec doesn’t know if it’s just the dark but Alec can’t read Magnus at all. 

“What are you saying?” He asks.

“I’m saying that we want to stop that drug launch just as much as you do. But the system isn’t just, trying to use it isn’t going to work. I wanted to do good. And along the way, I realized that sometimes a criminal is the only person willing to truly do the right thing, even if we have to break a few laws here and there.”

Deep down, Alec knows it’s true. Knows that the FDA is full of people who’ve been paid to keep quiet. Hell, talking bribes is how they’d gotten Valentine to trust Izzy.

He knows they would just sweep the emails and records under the rug or try and pay them off. Nothing would come of it. Not unless they have hard proof. Hard proof that is released before the people Valentine has bribed at the FDA can try and hide it. 

He knows it’s true. He doesn’t  _ want  _ to believe it though. 

“Alexander,” Magnus starts, and he almost sounds like he’s pleading with him, “I know what people like me can do. I’ve seen it. I’ve  _ done  _ it. But I try to be better than that. My  _ team  _ is better than that. If you can’t see that, I’m not going to stop you from leaving, but we aren’t going to just abandon this job in the middle.”

Alec takes a step closer to Magnus, finally sees something angry in his eyes. Alec had told him he trusted him.  _ Had that been a lie? _

He thinks about Max. His smile, the way he’d brought light to that hospital room even that last week. Would breaking the law like this do justice to his memory? 

“Magnus,” Alec chokes out, “I’m sorry.” 

He turns around and makes for the door, intent on walking out and not coming back. He pauses with his hand on the door and takes a deep breath. 

“We’re still meeting here tomorrow morning,” comes Magnus’ voice from behind him. It’s the most emotion Ales had heard in his voice, “If you change your mind.”

Alec grips the doorknob tightly, breath shuddering. He wonders when he’d given Magnus the power to affect him like this. Wonders when Magnus had given that same power to  _ him _ . 

“I’m sorry,” Alec whispers again and walks out the door.

***

Izzy and Jace are in their rooms when Alec returns to the apartment. He debates at least going to talk to Jace, but he’s exhausted. 

He can’t stop thinking about Magnus’ face before he’d turned away. He’d been angry but there had been some pain there too. 

Alec hadn’t meant to hurt him. 

He falls into bed and stares at the ceiling for hours before sleep takes him. 

The next morning Izzy and Jace silently get ready for the day and leave for headquarters at quarter past eight. 

Alec doesn't try to stop them, but he doesn’t go with them either. 

***

The apartment is too quiet that morning. 

Alec thinks about Izzy sitting in front of Valentine like they’d planned. Having a pleasant conversation with the man that had killed their little brother. Of having to hug him to slip the GPS into his jacket. 

Alec hadn’t even been there to support her before she had to do that. He’s supposed to take care of Izzy and Jace and he’d abandoned them. 

He thinks about Magnus showing up and telling Valentine that they know Acamprotin is the same as Vantex. Of telling him that they’d already stolen the vials and demanding millions of dollars in order to keep quiet about it. 

Magnus is risking himself for this. They know Valentine isn’t above making people who get in his way disappear. 

Alec and his siblings were in this for revenge. Magnus is just trying to do the right thing. And isn’t that what Max would be rooting for?  _ The right thing _ .

Alec stands from the table abruptly. 

_ Fuck, he’s an idiot.  _

Before he can do anything, a phone goes off in the kitchen. Alec frowns, walking into the kitchen and finding one of Izzy’s multiple burner phones on the counter. 

He picks it up without thinking, “Hello?” 

A woman’s voice is frantically talking on the other end of the line, “I was right about my dad! He came back from that meeting with you and—” 

“What?” Alec asks, cutting her off.

She pauses a moment before her voice goes hard, “Who are you?” 

“Who are  _ you _ ?” Alec throws back. 

“I’m Clary, why the fuck are you answering Izzy’s phone? Where is she?” 

Alec’s heart sinks.  _ Clary _ . He hadn’t had time to ask Izzy about what the hell she’d been doing with Clary because of their fight. 

She’d gotten Valentine’s daughter involved. Someone he has no idea he can trust, even if Izzy does. 

“I work with her,” Alec says, being purposely vague.

“You need to tell her that my dad came back from that meeting super freaked out. He told me to go check to make sure the Acamprotin vials are still in the vault. Did you guys steal them? What the hell? That vault has crazy security.” 

Alec is already grabbing his jacket, phone cradled between his shoulder and ear. He doesn’t know if he can completely trust Clary, but if she’s right, then the GPS they’d planted in Valentine’s jacket isn’t going to lead them to the vault like they’d hoped. 

“ _ No _ we didn’t steal them,” he grumbles.

“Then why—“

“Where are the vials?” Alec asks.

Clary huffs and Alec rolls his eyes. He can already tell she’s going to be a pain in his ass. 

“The Clave storage center on 29th, but I don’t understand. Why is my dad so freaked out if you didn’t steal them?”

Alec runs a hand over his face, “Because we told him we did, okay?”

“You guys are crazy. You think that will actually work?” Clary asks, disbelievingly.

Alec groans internally, he did  _ not  _ sign up to explain their plan to some girl who doesn’t know what the fuck is going on.

“I’m going to find Izzy.  _ Goodbye _ ,” he says, purposefully ignoring Clary’s protests as he hangs up the phone. 

***

Simon opens the door for Alec when he gets to headquarters. He isn’t sure he deserves the lopsided smile Simon sends him but he’s grateful for it all the same. 

“Alec,” he says, “you changed your mind?” 

Alec presses his lips together and nods once, “If you’ll have me.” 

“You broke a few hearts this morning,” Simon tells him even as he opens the door wider to let Alec in. 

Alec tries not to think about that. He’d seen Izzy and Jace’s faces when he’d refused to go with them. He doesn’t want to imagine Magnus’ or even Maia’s. 

He follows Simon into the break room, internally cringing when everyone looks up at their entrance. 

They’re all crowded around Izzy’s laptop, most likely waiting for Valentine to lead them to the vials. Something only Alec knows isn’t going to happen. 

Maia is the first to speak, voice unreadable, “Alec.” 

Alec doesn’t know what to say but he knows he needs to say  _ something _ . He can’t just pretend that he didn’t leave them hanging this morning. 

Alec tries to catch Magnus’ eyes but he won’t look at Alec. Alec sighs, taking a deep breath and squeezing his eyes shut.

“I’m so sorry.” 

When he opens his eyes, Magnus is looking right at him. 

“For?” Magnus prompts. 

Alec huffs a small laugh. Of course Magnus wasn’t going to make this easy for him. 

He shakes his head, “For abandoning you guys in the middle of a job,” he looks at Maia and his siblings, “for thinking that doing what you guys do every day was ever a bad thing.” 

He looks at Magnus earnestly. Magnus tilts his head and sends him a small smile. 

“Welcome back, Alexander,” he says quietly.

***

Alec stands outside the storage facility with Clary and crosses his arms. 

After he’d told the team what Clary had told him (and endured Izzy’s I told you so rant about trusting her) the team had contacted Clary about getting into the facility to get the vials. 

Alec, for one, hadn’t wanted to trust Clary with getting the vials, but they didn’t have much of a choice. This new plan was elaborate and the only way it was going to work was if Clary was on their side. 

He and Magnus had planned the vial retrieval together and if it didn’t work, the rest of the plan went out the window. 

“Okay, cameras are offline,” Simon says into the comms. Clary jumps slightly next to Alec. 

“Woah,” she mutters bringing a hand up to her ear, “cool.”

Alec chuckles and gestures for her to open the door. They don’t have much time, Simon can’t keep the cameras offline for too long. 

“Okay,” Clary says, holding her chin up and stepping forwards. 

Alec follows her as she waves a badge over a sensor to let them into the main part of the building. They have to bypass the front desk. No one can know they’re here. Not yet. 

Thankfully, Clary knows another back way to vault. Alec memorizes the path as they make their way down multiple long corridors. 

At the vault, Clary quickly puts in the code, turning off the alarms so they can walk inside without setting them off. 

The Acamprotin vials are held in a nondescript black briefcase that Clary slides off a shelf. Alec tries not to think about how the drug in there killed his little brother. He needs to be focused for this to work.

“What kind of alarms are there in here?” Alec asks her. 

Clary grins, “Motion sensors.” She points to the edges of the room at said sensors. Alec grins back.

Clary hands Alec the briefcase and walks back out of the vault. He doesn’t leave with her.

“Are you sure about this?” She asks him, standing in front of the alarm panel. 

Alec takes a deep breath, nodding. He and Magnus had talked through the plan in detail before they’d left. He trusts that it’s going to work. 

“Okay,” Clary says, pressing a few keys to turn the alarms back on. 

She hesitates, looking at Alec worriedly. 

“I’ll be fine,” he says. 

Clary nods, though he’s not sure she actually believes him. Maybe he’d been wrong about her. She seems to genuinely care about this plan going well. 

“Okay,” Clary answers, “just know, Izzy will kick your ass if you mess this up.” 

Alec rolls his eyes and watches her disappear down the hall the way they’d come. 

Alec has trained himself to move quietly and undetected precisely to get past things like motion sensors. It takes everything in him to step right up to the sensors and wave his arms around enough to set them off. 

When the alarms blare, he doesn’t leave immediately. Instead he waits with bated breath, fingers tight on the handle of the briefcase. His heart beats in time with the alarm and Alec prays that this doesn’t all go to hell. 

It takes an embarrassingly long time for security to get down to the vault. If Alec hadn’t wanted to be seen he would’ve been long gone. 

He grins at the first guard to see him, saluting playfully. The guard narrows his eyes and zeroes in on the briefcase. 

“Oh,” Alec says, feigning surprise, “was I not allowed to take this?” 

The guard lunges at him and several more appear behind him. Alec dodges their advances before he grins and drops smoothly to the floor, sliding the briefcase across the ground to the other side of the vault. 

The distraction gives him enough time to sprint out of the vault into the hallway. He grins to himself when he finds Raphael and Jace in the hall, surrounded by multiple unconscious guards. 

With adrenaline pumping in his veins, Alec laughs and grabs Jace’s arm, running back through the corridors and outside. 

Clary and Simon are waiting with the van and they’re driving away before a single guard makes it outside to give chase.

Jace cackles from next to Alec and Raphael throws his head back against the seat. 

“That was a crazy plan, Lightwood,” he mutters, “you’re lucky it worked.” 

Alec laughs again. He’s glad it worked, too. 

***

They wait until the day of the drug launch to put the rest of the plan into motion. 

Jace is keeping Veronica company once again, Izzy is with Valentine, Simon is in the van outside with Magnus and Raphael, Alec and Maia are milling among the guests just in case they’re needed. Clary is somewhere in the crowd as well, waiting for their signal. 

Valentine had called Magnus earlier in the day, requesting that Magnus come to the drug launch so they could talk about the money Magnus had demanded. 

They’re counting on the fact that Clary went back and got the vials for real to show him that Magnus’ team had failed at stealing them. 

Alec hopes to God they made the right choice in trusting her. 

“I’m going in,” Magnus says into the comms and Alec looks towards the door, catching Magnus’ eye as he walks into the building. 

He sends Alec a comforting smile but it does nothing to calm the growing dread building in Alec’s stomach. They know Valentine didn’t call this meeting to actually hand over the money Magnus demanded. Who knows what he has planned. 

Alec can admit to himself in the privacy of his own mind that he’s not sure what he’d do if something happened to Magnus. 

Alec grabs Magnus’ wrist as he passes by without thinking. Magnus looks surprised, glancing down at Alec’s hand and then back up into his eyes. 

Alec wants to tell him not to go into that meeting but can’t get himself to voice it. He knows Magnus wouldn’t listen anyway. 

“Be careful,” Alec whispers instead.

Magnus’ lips curl up into a small smile and the way he looks at Alec is far too intimate, a touch fond. Alec holds his breath, squeezing Magnus’ wrist tighter.

“I’m always careful, darling,” he says simply, gently removing Alec’s fingers from his wrist, “now you know how I felt when you walked into that vault.” 

Alec huffs a silent laugh and takes a step back to let Magnus walk by. It’s going to be fine. They can do this. 

Alec turns away from Magnus to face Maia who had been standing behind him throughout the interaction. 

Maia reaches out to squeeze his arm, “He’s going to be fine,” she mutters, “he always is.” 

Alec nods and lets her pull him back into the crowd. 

Alec is in the middle of pretending to listen to another boring marketing conversation with one of the other interns when he hears Raphael yell.

“Magnus watch out!” 

“Shit!” He hears Magnus mutter to himself.

Alec turns to catch Maia’s wide eyed gaze across the room as he listens to the sound of a scuffle. He wants to run the way Magnus had gone to help but Maia shakes her head subtly. 

He hears the sound of someone falling to the ground and then silence. 

Alec waits a long moment, barely breathing. No one on the team says a word.

“Magnus?” Alec whispers, fighting to keep his voice calm. 

There’s no answer. Alec’s heart sinks. 

“They took him to Valentine’s office,” Raphael whispers. 

Alec can’t voice his next question. He’s thankful when Maia does it for him.

“Is he okay?” 

“Unconscious,” Raphael answers.

Alec lets out a breath. It’s not good but it could’ve been worse. He’ll be okay as long as he can keep Valentine talking once he wakes up.

“Okay,” Alec says steadily, despite his racing heart, “we stick to the plan.” 

He’s surprised when no one argues. Maia nods at him from across the room. Maybe they trust him. Maybe they just trust that Magnus will be okay. 

“Clary, it’s up to you,” Izzy says quietly. 

“He checked the briefcase earlier to make sure it was full,” Clary whispers back. 

It doesn’t take long for Magnus to wake up. The whole team seems to sigh in relief when his voice crackles through the comms.

“Morgenstern,” Magnus says, voice low and threatening, “is this any way to treat a guest. Especially one with such damning information.” 

Alec’s stomach twists at Valentine’s humorless laugh. 

“Your team failed,” he tells Magnus. 

Alec listens as he calls Clary into the room. He imagines her handing him the briefcase of Acamprotin vials. 

There’s a click over the comms and Alec holds his breath. He wishes he could see the look on the bastard’s face when he sees the empty briefcase. 

Magnus laughs, “Did we?” 

“This can’t be true,” Valentine says, “it was just full—“

“My team and I didn’t fail at all,” Magnus says, “we just waited until you took the Acamprotin out of the vault  _ yourself _ to steal it.”

“ _ No _ .” 

Alec wanders over to Maia who is leaning against the wall, she smirks at him as they listen to Magnus speak. 

“And you know what we did with it? We altered it so the effects would occur in minutes rather than months and  _ then _ we put it in the very champagne you and everyone at your precious drug launch are drinking.” 

Alec hears the sound of a glass shattering and laughs to himself. 

It isn’t long before Valentine is barging into the room. 

“Stop drinking the champagne!” He bellows, taking the glasses from people as he runs into the crowd, “It’s been poisoned with Acamprotin!” 

Clary, Magnus, and Raphael walk in a few moments after them. Magnus has a bruise on the side of the face that is probably going to be all kinds of black and blue in a few hours but he’s grinning widely. 

“Now Simon,” he says and suddenly the monitors set up around the party to advertise Vantex go black. 

When they start back up, the screens all show the chemical structure of Acamprotin and Vantex side by side. 

The party seems to gasp as one and Alec walks over to Valentine with Maia as the reporters start to descend on him. Izzy shows up on his other side and hands them both champagne flutes. 

“We did it,” she says giddily.

“Almost,” Magnus says, coming to stand on Izzy’s other side. 

“So you knew Acamprotin was poisonous and were still launching the drug in a new form?” Someone says from the crowd.

Alec watches Valentine whip around and come face to face with Veronica. 

“Who the hell are you?” He questions and Alec can’t hold back a small laugh. 

Veronica raises an unimpressed eyebrow and holds up her badge which Jace has returned, “Veronica Chambers, FDA.” 

“ _ What? _ ” Valentine searches the crowd until he zeroes in on Izzy. Alec watches his eyes go wide when he sees Alec, Maia and Magnus with her. 

Alec feels an immense amount of satisfaction as he brings the champagne flute to his lips and takes a long sip. 

Valentine’s mouth drops open and he points accusingly at them. 

“No! No, they poisoned the champagne!” 

“Sorry, Dad, but they didn’t.” 

Clary hands the black briefcase to Veronica who opens it and finds the Acamprotin vials untouched inside. 

And with that, the reporters fully descend onto him. 

Izzy laughs bright and happy. 

Magnus bumps his shoulder with Alec’s and grins, “I think our work here is done.”

***

“How does it feel?” 

Alec turns to find Magnus leaning against the bar next to him. 

The team had decided to go out to celebrate their success. Alec had lost most of them to the dance floor a while ago. 

“How does what feel?” 

Magnus shrugs. He’d iced his bruise but his face was still slightly swollen on one side. He is still  _ so  _ beautiful, “Knowing Valentine has finally paid for what he did.” 

Alec thinks about it. He and his siblings have been working towards this moment for almost two years. And now they’d accomplished it. Alec had left his whole life behind for this. 

In the moment, seeing the defeat on Valentine’s face had been everything Alec had expected of the moment. But  _ now _ —Alec isn’t sure what he’s supposed to do. 

He’s almost  _ disappointed _ . 

They’re done. He’s never going to need to crack another safe. He’s never going to feel that adrenaline he’d felt in the vault yesterday or that crazy sense of accomplishment when a crazy plan actually works.

“I’m not sure,” Alec finally answers truthfully. 

Magnus doesn’t push, he just smiles comfortingly and takes a sip of his drink. Alec unthinkingly moves closer to him. 

“I have something for you,” Magnus says. 

“What?” Alec asks, surprised. 

Magnus takes something out from the inside pocket of his jacket and hangs it to Alec. Their fingers brush as Alec takes it, causing tingles to travel up Alec’s arm. 

He has to hold in a gasp when he looks at what he’s been given. 

It’s a check. For  _ a lot  _ of money. 

Magnus laughs at his reaction. 

“The FDA awards whistleblowers a percent of the fine,” he gestures at the check, “and it was a  _ big _ fine.” 

Alec looks down at the check, just to make sure he’d really seen the number on there correctly, “Why are you giving it to me?” 

“I want you and your siblings to have it. I think you could do a lot of good with it.” 

Alec shakes his head in disbelief. He’s not sure how he’d thought Magnus Bane was anything other than a good person. 

“Are you sure?”

Magnus smiles one of those smiles that takes Alec’s breath away.

“Positive.” 

***

It’s Izzy’s idea. 

When Alec shows a very hungover Izzy and Jace the check the next day, they’re stunned. 

Izzy collects herself first, grabbing the check from Alec and inspecting it from all angles. 

“This is crazy.”

“I know,” Alec agrees. He’d almost convinced himself he’d dreamed the whole thing but the very real check had still been in his pocket the next day.

“You know,” Izzy says, still looking at the check, “a lot of the families Jace and I talked to who had also lost someone to the Acamprotin trials weren’t doing great financially. They’re all still trying to recover from years of hospital bills.”

Jace turns to look at Alec with wide eyes, understanding what Izzy is getting at, “This money could help them,” he says excitedly.

Alec can’t help but smile proudly at them. Magnus was right. They  _ were  _ going to do a lot of good with it. Alec would make sure of it.

“Sounds like a perfect plan.” 

***

“Alexander.” 

Alec looks up and grins when he sees Magnus walking over to the bench he’s sitting at. It’s close to midday, the park is full of people walking and picnicking. The sun halos Magnus’ form when he turns to face Alec.

It’s been almost a week since they’d pulled off the job with Valentine.

They’d watched as Valentine had been publically tried for both the Acampritin trial and the Vantex stunt. Alec and his siblings had spent the few days compiling a list of addresses of all the people who’d been affected by the trial. 

Alec had honestly been surprised when Magnus had called him earlier and asked to meet him. He’s not complaining. 

“I’m glad you called,” Alec admits when Magnus has sat down next to him. 

Magnus’ smile lights up his face at the admission, “That so?”

His reaction to Alec’s first candor gives him the courage to be truthful again. 

“I missed you,” he tells Magnus.

Magnus stills and Alec sees his cheeks color for the first time since they’d met. Alec bites his lip against a self satisfied smile.

“Good,” Magnus says quietly, “because I have a question for you.”

They’ve moved closer on the bench while they’ve been talking. Something Alec doesn’t notice until his pinky bumps Magnus’ thumb. Magnus doesn’t move his hand. 

Alec gulps and looks into his eyes, “Shoot.” 

“The team and I have been talking and we wanted to ask you and your siblings to officially join the team. We’ve seen that all three of you are phenomenal at what you do and we already know we work well together,” Magnus chuckles, “and Simon insisted he needed Izzy back because she’s the only one who understands his geek speak.” Magnus hesitates a long second in which Alec almost thinks he’s finished speaking before he takes a deep breath, “ _ And  _ I may have grown just a little bit attached to you, Alexander.” 

He’s fully in Alec’s space now, leaning so close that Alec could count his individual eyelashes if he tried. Alec searches his face, smiling slightly when he notices Magnus’ eyes flick down to his lips. 

Alec leans the rest of the way forwards, hooking his index finger into Magnus’ shirt collar to pull him in and press their lips together. 

Magnus smiles into his lips, one hand landing on his shoulder, the other into his hair. Warmth unfurls in Alec’s chest and he laughs into Magnus’ lips. He’s secretly been thinking about this moment ever since he and Magnus had shared that first drink and Alec had gotten his first peek at the real Magnus Bane. The reality can’t compare to any of his daydreams. 

When they pull apart, Alec is greeted with Magnus’ smiling face.

“Is that a yes?” 

Alec grins, pressing their foreheads together, “It’s a hell yes.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!! 
> 
> Comments and Kudos are always appreciated!!!!
> 
> Come talk to me  
> Tumblr: [lightwormsiblings](https://lightwormsiblings.tumblr.com)  
> Twitter: [alistoney1](https://mobile.twitter.com/alistoney1)


End file.
